Donor Privacy Policy

This is an official policy which has been adopted by the Board under Article 28. It is based on the Wikimedia Foundation's Policy. The first version is available here with substantive changes shown in the mark up here; on 27 April 2012 it was replaced by the version below.

Wikimedia UK maintains the highest level of respect for the privacy of its donors. In furtherance of our commitment to honour your rights, we have developed this Donor Privacy Policy to guide our volunteers and staff on how they may and may not use your personal information. This policy may be updated from time to time.

Donor Bill of Rights and Collection Policy

Donor Bill of Rights

Wikimedia UK subscribes to the Donor Bill of Rights.

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.

To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.

To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements.

To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.

To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.

To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.

To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.

To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.

To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.

To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

The text of this statement in its entirety was developed by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits.

Donor Collection Policy

What information we collect

Wikimedia UK Wikimedia UK collects and uses various personal information from donors for the purposes of processing payments and communicating with donors about Wikimedia as well as conducting the fundraising and other operations of Wikimedia. This information may include name, amount donated, address, telephone number, donor comments, e-mail address, and any other personal information provided to us (“Donor Data”). For donations by cheque, Donor Data also includes the data visible on the cheque. Tax laws in the United Kingdom requires Wikimedia UK to keep certain information on file if we apply for Gift Aid tax relief.

As part of providing an online experience expected by our donors, we may store various data that are collected as part of standard web operations (including things like user agent strings, IP addresses, referrer strings, and cookies). We may use this data for purposes described in this policy, including analytical needs and improved functionality of our website. We make limited use of cookies, including third party cookies (such as cookies from payment processors), to track sessions, help store data, and fulfill the purposes set out in this policy. You can prevent or delete our cookies by adapting your browser settings, although this will likely affect the functionality of the website.

Payment Processors and Other Service Providers. Payment processors allow donors to give electronically using a payment services account, a credit card, or other payment method. These processors collect certain information from donors, and you should consult their privacy policies to determine their practices.

To provide donors the best possible experience, we work with service providers and may share Donor Data and other information with, or have it transmitted through, them. Such service providers include, for example, collocation facilities and bandwidth providers, organizations that help non-profit organizations with fundraising, or mailing houses who might send mailings on our behalf.

How we use that information

Donor Data. Donor Data may be used for these kinds of purposes:

Distributing receipts and thanking donors for donations

Informing donors about upcoming fundraising and other activities of Wikimedia.

Internal analysis, such as research and analytics

Record keeping

Reporting to applicable government agencies as required by law

Surveys, metrics, and other analytical purposes

Other purposes related to the fundraising operations

Unless otherwise stated, we do not publish, sell, trade, or rent Donor Data. Anonymized donor information may be used for promotional and fundraising activities. Comments that are provided by donors may be publicly published and may be used in promotional materials. We may use available information to supplement the Donor Data to improve the information we use to drive our fundraising efforts. We may allow donors the option to have their name publicly associated with their donation unless otherwise requested as part of the online donation process.

We use data gathered for payment processors and other service providers only for the purposes described in this policy.

It is our internal policy to limit access to financial information to professional staff and volunteers who need to process that information for the purposes described above. Personal financial information is not sold to or traded with other parties.

We use partners to provide online payment processing services. Usually, the privacy policies of these organizations will be presented to you on their respective websites and typically also as part of your donation process. If you pay by credit card, we do not store your credit card information, bank account numbers, or other financial account data sent directly to those processing services.

Cheques, money orders and similar methods of payment sent to our office are handled by trusted volunteers and staff members. However, we cannot guarantee the security of these drafts.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Donor Privacy Policy, requests about the status and correctness of your donor data or if you wish to be removed from our email/postal contact lists, then please email infowikimedia.org.uk or write to:

Wikimedia UK

4th Floor

Development House

56-64 Leonard Street

London EC2A 4LT

Security

We are committed to protecting donor personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Among other things, we undertake a range of security practices, including measures to help secure web access to sensitive data and undertake efforts to address security vulnerabilities for various tools and databases.

Other Disclosures

We may disclose information when required by law; when needed to protect our rights, privacy, safety, property, donors, or users; and when necessary to enforce our terms of service.

Updates

We may change the Donor Privacy Policy from time to time. Any and all changes will be reflected on this page. Substantive changes may also be announced through the standard mechanisms by which we communicate with our users and community. You should periodically check this page for any changes to the current policy.

Data Destination

Wikimedia UK may use the services of contractors or agencies outside the UK in order to use data for the purposes outlined above. Before we do so, we will satisfy ourselves that the level of data security is satisfactory to meet our obligations under the Data Protection Act.

Data Retention

We seek to retain donor-related information only as needed to fulfill the purposes described in this policy unless a longer retention period is required by law or regulations. For the UK, for example, this means that we process donor information in accordance with the Data Protection Acts, and that we maintain records as required to claim Gift Aid on eligible donations.

Rights

You have certain rights with respect to the information we collect about you. Upon request, we will tell you what information we hold about you and correct any incorrect information. We will also make reasonable efforts to delete your information if you ask us to do so, unless we are otherwise required to keep it.

Scope

This particular policy applies to donations to Wikimedia UK. If you visit the Wikimedia donation page from a location that is in the geographical area of another Chapter, or where the Wikimedia Foundation is processing donations, you might be – though not necessarily – redirected to that organisation’s website rather than Wikimedia UK. Other chapters and the Wikimedia Foundation are independent from Wikimedia UK, and may post different policies and practices depending on local law requirements and other considerations. This policy does not address data from sources other than donations, such as edits or content contributions to projects or features.